


Sunkissed

by deartomhardy



Category: British Actor RPF, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 12:03:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16872600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deartomhardy/pseuds/deartomhardy
Summary: "Aren't you going to introduce us, darling?" The man spoke up, voice raspy as he met your eyes. His accent was driving you up the wall and you fishmouthed for a few seconds, watching him smirk before he turned his attention to the two people in front of him. "I'm Tom, her boyfriend."Or, the one where you go on a girls trip to Hawaii to forget about your ex-boyfriend, only to run into him with his new girlfriend. Luckily, Tom comes to your rescue and is more than happy to play as your boyfriend.





	Sunkissed

**Author's Note:**

> So I’ve written three parts in total and will begin with posting one to see if there’s enough interest in it. The first two parts will be completely sfw whereas the third part will be nsfw. I hope you all like this one, and please do send feedback my way if you’d like more! :’) x

The waves crashing against the shore pulled you out of your slumber, your dream drifting further and further away until you slowly blinked your eyes open. You only caught a glimpse of the blue sky before you squeezed your eyes shut again, turning to the other side in the hammock to avoid the sunlight burning your eyes.

When you deemed it safe again, you pried your eyes open and looked over at the beach, noting the strong currents as you swept your gaze along the sand to the far right where people were roaming around. It was far enough away from the beach house you'd rented for the two weeks, but you could still spot the people by the beach bar with cold drinks in their hands and some loitering on the sand not too far away from the ocean; Roasting under the sun.

You could hear Penny creating a commotion inside the house through the open windows and door, belting out a song so out of tune that you couldn't stop the grin from creeping onto your face as you turned on your back. She always had a thing for singing but alas, she wasn't born with the gift of singing. The girl was a mean chef though, and she only proved you right judging by the smell of roasted vegetables wafting out the window closest to the kitchen.

A few minutes rolled by as you continued swinging gently back and forth in the hammock, staring up at the tree blocking the sun conveniently with its branches and leaves. You figured that any time now, Penny would holler that brunch was ready so you mustered up enough strength to haul your body up without turning the hammock over and landing on your ass. You left the book you'd been reading where you previously laid and dragged your bare feet up the small lawn, to the path before entering the house.

Penny was right where you assumed she'd be, plating what looked like a healthy amount of vegetables and potatoes on two seperate plates. She peered up when the floor creaked beneath the soles of your feet, lips stretching into a smile as a strand of dark hair uncrooked itself from behind her ear, falling right in front of her eye.

"Oh good, you're up," She placed the spatula in the sink and pulled open a drawer. "I was getting ready to fill up a bucket and splash you with ice cold water."

You shoot her a look because you wouldn't put it past your best friend to do such an evil thing. She'd done it plenty of times before, but surely you couldn't be blamed for being a night owl more than a morning person? Who in their right mind would be a morning person?

You looked at your friend. She was one.

"Should I worry about your weird obsession with splashing innocent people?" You asked, grabbing a plate and accepting the fork she was handing you. Penny guffawed as she closed the kitchen drawer with her hip and you would've taken great offence if it weren't for the smell of your food.

Your stomach growled as you plopped down on your chair, wasting no time to dig into the potatoes. She really was a wonderful cook.

"You? Innocent? Right, okay." She sat herself down in front of you. "So what's the plan for today?"

You opened your mouth to speak but she silenced you quickly.

"Besides sleeping." She interrupted you, waving her fork in your direction before stabbing a sliced pepper. "I was thinking we could trek through the jungle and check out that waterfall Pete was talking about yesterday. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?"

It sounded like fun for her. Penny loved to hike and stomp her way through nature, babbling out unnecessary facts about plants and berries as she dodged any lowhanging branch. You'd gone hiking with her once back home, that had been your first and only time because you'd been bitten by questionable bugs during those pesky six hours and scraped up your knees from fallen branches you hadn't seen in your way. It had been the best six hours of Penny's life mainly because she got to watch you suffer and grumble, but it had been your worst six hours.

"Sounds like a lot of fun." You murmured through a mouthful of food, reminding yourself to cuss Pete out when you saw him again. He was the owner of the beach bar Oasis near your house and Penny had wasted no time to befriend him. Pete was more than happy to tend to her every need and you suspected it had something to do with her striking blue eyes and her hypnotizing smile.

"You want to do something else instead? We could just head over to Oasis and dry up beneath the sun." She could sense that you weren't up for hiking, but she had sounded so hopeful and you smiled guiltily at her.

"No!" You laughed. "No we can check that waterfall out."

* * *

It hadn't been bad, but you were craving a strong drink by the time you stumbled through the frontdoor to your house, legs aching as you headed straight for the shower. The waterfall had been farther into the jungle than Pete had cared to mention and you had ended up walking for over an hour before you found it. It had been magical and you'd even taken a dip in the cold water before sitting by the rocks and talking about anything that came to mind, narrowly avoiding the topic of home and recent events.

An hour later and the sun was hanging low near the horizon, giving the sky a nice glow that had you walking slower toward the beach just to admire it. Penny had crashed on the couch, so you'd changed into something less tight and restricting and snuck your way out so as to not disturb her. The bar was bustling with people and the atmosphere was incredibly intimate, soft music playing in the background as people sat by their tables closer to the shore. It was easy to feel a wave of bitterness wash over you, what with all the couples around to remind you that you'd had that a few months ago. That is, until he one day decided that you weren't enough.

You walked up to the bar where - thankfully - only a few people were sitting, jumping up onto a stool and placing your palms flat on the counter of the bar. Pete looked your way at the sound and gave you an easy smile, handing a few customers two bottles of Corona before strolling over to you. He crooked his shoulder long hair behind his ears and you noted with mild amusement how he'd burned the apples of his cheeks, judging by how red and sore they loooked.

"Hey! You look beat." He said and gathered up a few ingredients to mix up your Strawberry Daquiri. It was the drink you'd been ordering for the past three days and no one made it as well as he did. You weren't a big drinker per se, but you were on vacation and you'd agreed to hike through the jungle so you deserved to relax.

"I've got you to thank for planting the idea of hiking into my friend's skull." You shot back at him with no real malice in your voice, a teasing smile playing on your lips as you slumped further in your seat. "My knees are sore."

Pete winced in sympathy, letting out a small laugh as he plugged in a mixer.  
"Yeah, I might've downplayed the distance a bit." He said and you gave him a look. "But hey, it was gorgeous, wasn't it? You can't say it wasn't worth it."

You nodded, telling him about how you'd gotten so excited about finally being able to cool your body off that you'd stepped right into an ant hill and screeched so loud that Penny - who was in the process of pulling off her shoes - had dropped one of them into the water. Pete laughed along as he finished mixing your drink, placing the tall pink glass in front of you.

"Gotta take this, sorry." He nodded to the far left where a group of people had walked up and you nodded in understanding, waving him off with a limp hand. He tapped the counter of the bar twice with a closed fist and shot you a smile before leaving you to tend to your drink in peace.

You turned around in your seat so you were facing the vast ocean in front of you, wrapping your lips around your straw to slurp a generous amount of thick liquid in your mouth. The coolness made you relax just a little bit, and you allowed yourself to properly take in your surroundings as people started gathering up their things and walking further down to the beach. You watched as they spread their blankets on the grainy sand, sitting down with their friends or significant others, families even. The sun was starting to set and the sky was burning orange, mesmerizing anyone who could see it.

"Beautiful, innit?" You startled as a voice spoke to your right, making you whirl around so fast that a splash of your drink splattered onto your lap. "Whoa there, sorry!"

You grumbled to yourself for being so clumsy, placing the half-empty glass back on the counter before reaching for a few napkins to clean yourself off.

"No, it's my fault for being so - " The words died on your tongue as you looked up at the source of the voice, coming eye to eye with a man with windswept hair and scruffy face. His bushy eyebrows raised further in amusement and you had the strangest urge to kiss his sinfully full lips that were half hidden behind the mustache he possessed. "So clumsy."

You finished the sentence off awkwardly, closing your mouth in an attempt to look less like a fool as you fumbled for anything to say. But the way his arms were bulging in his crisp white t-shirt made it hard, eyes taking in the stark contrast of the tattoos against his sunkissed skin. The way his neckline was drooping, you could easily spot the tattoos across his collarbone, wrapping over the nape of his neck and covering whatever part of his broad shoulders you could see. And his eyes. You'd never seen anything like them. So blue and light, piercing you as they never left yours. He looked intimidating, but there was a softness in his eyes and the corners of his lips.

"Uh," You averted your eyes and started wringing your hands inconspicuously just to busy yourself from your intruding thoughts. "Been here for three days now and the sunsets never cease to amaze me, to be honest."

The man gave a hum of agreement and you looked up just in time to watch him take a sip of his dark drink. He did it so effortlessly and you couldn't stop yourself from staring at the roughness of his hands and fingers before tearing your eyes away. You were starting to burn up in your beach dress and it was certainly not because of the setting sun or the humid air.

"You should see the sunrise, it's stunning." He said and you couldn't help but smile at him.

"So you're a sunrise kind of person?" You asked him, surprised at the light teasing in your voice. "Would never have guessed that."

He returned your smile with a grin of his own, eyes almost disappearing adorably as he shook his head with a huff of laughter. It made your heart leap in your chest and you had to look away before you walked over and kissed his tanned face. There was something about him that looked eerily familiar but you couldn't figure it out. You shook your head gently, figuring it was just the alcohol talking, you'd never been so forward with men before. Not since your boyfriend.

The thought of him left a bitter taste in your mouth and you were just about to ask for the man's name when you heard a surprised gasp from somewhere behind you. You felt your heart plummet to your ass before you even had the chance to turn around, the sound of your name joining the gasp. It was a voice you knew very well. The voice who had haunted your dreams for so long. You had half a mind to book it and never look back, but you willed your racing heart to calm down before turning in your seat to face the devil himself.

"Y/N?" Your smiling ex-boyfriend Lucas looked happier than you would have expected as he smiled at you. He walked closer to you, looking ridiculous in his flip-flops and shorts and it only seemed to anger you how he made it work so effortlessly. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same," You gave him a strained smile, willing your face to relax.

"I uh," He trailed off and looked to his left and only then did you notice the gorgeous brunette he had his arm wrapped around. She looked like she'd walked straight out of Vogue magazine, legs tall and tan. "I'm here with my girlfriend. This is Carla."

_Carla. Girlfriend?_ Granted it had been four months since he'd broken it off with you, but you had never expected him to move on so fast after being in a relationship for four years. A girlfriend he brought to Hawaii, nonetheless. He barely drove you to the next state over during your four years and here he was, splurging on his long legged girlfriend like it was nothing. It wasn't her fault that he'd one day woken up and told you that he didn't love you anymore, so it wasn't fair that you were being so petty towards her. But you couldn't help it. Seeing him brought up all kinds of emotions to the surface; Emotions you'd tried so hard to bury.

The bitterness had never been so overwhelming before and you wished to be anywhere but here at the moment. But you pulled yourself together and gave her a bright smile, sticking your hand out.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." You greeted her, shaking her hand before dropping stiffly. She returned the sentiment with a kind smile and you grit your teeth at the sickly sweet voice of hers. "I'm Y/N."

Lucas peered around curiously before settling his eyes on you once again, and you knew the question was coming before he had even opened his mouth to utter the words. You felt the panic overtake your senses faster than you could blink, mind racing to come up with the perfect excuse.

"So, who are you here with? Alone?" He probably didn't mean to sound so smug about it, but you heard it clear as day as you stared up at his looming form, struggling to find your voice.

You thought about lying, coming up with a story that'd hopefully make him seethe and shake with jealousy. A fake boyfriend would definitely do the work, but God knew if you'd ever run into the both of them again and you would rather sink through the sand than be caught out in public without said fake boyfriend. He'd know for sure that something was off.

A warm hand slid around your waist all of a sudden, and you thanked your lucky stars that Penny had swept in at the right time to save the day. Your heart stopped in its tracks when you tilted your head, expecting to see your best friends glaring face but it was far from it. All you caught sight off was a beard and a handsome smile before he stepped in close to your side. Your mind raced to catch up to what was happening and it was only a mere seconds later of stunned silence that you realized that it was the handsome man from the bar you'd talked to before. He was coming to your rescue.

You were suddenly hyper aware of his hand resting on your side and the warmth of his arm draped over your back. The silence was deafening and you looked between the stranger and Lucas, feeling a small sense of smugness at the shock written all over his face. He looked like he'd seen a ghost and you tried not to let the smugness get the best of you.

"Aren't you going to introduce us, darling?" The man spoke up, voice raspy as he met your eyes. His accent was driving you up the wall and you fishmouthed for a few seconds, watching him smirk before he turned his attention to the two people in front of him. "I'm Tom, her boyfriend."

He reached out a hand between the four of you, and you bit back a smile as Lucas glanced down at his hand as if it had offended him, trailing his eyes back up to Tom and then to you. It looked like he was struggling immensely and it made your stomach twist in satisfaction. You let your smile break out on your face and that seemed to snap him back to reality, reaching forward to grab Tom's hand in a firm handshake before letting it go.

"You're -" His voice dropped and he cleared his throat harshly before letting out a stunned laugh. "You're Tom Hardy?"

He said it as a question and suddenly it all clicked for you. The silence wasn't one of jealousy, it was one of awe. One of shock. He looked incredibly starstruck and so did Carla, although she looked more jealous and you weren't sure if she was jealous of you or something else.

_Tom Hardy._ That's why he'd looked so familiar, you just couldn't place your finger on where you'd seen his face before. You tilted your head up, trying not to burn up in shame as he gave you a crooked smile. How could you not have realized it was him? How foolish were you?

"That's me, mate." Tom laughed and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "And you are?"

Lucas frowned and looked between the two of you. If he raised his eyebrows any further, they'd end up disappearing into his hairline. The thought made you smile in amusement.

"I'm Lucas," He said, letting his arm that had been slung over Carla's shoulder to fall to his side as he flattened the palm of his other hand against his chest. "Her ex-boyfriend.”

"Oh," Tom exhaled, raising his eyebrows as he sized the man up in a manner that even had you feeling intimidated. "I didn't expect you to be so... _Tiny._ "

He trailed his gaze over Lucas form and you laughed, stopping yourself when he glared at you. Instead, you opted to hide the uncontrollable smile behind your hand as Tom chuckled, clearly satisfied with your reaction. Carla crossed her arms over her chest, looking embarrassed as she watched the conversation unravel right in front of her. Suddenly, you felt sorry for her. Funny how you were feeling jealous just a few minutes ago. The tables had certainly turned, and in your favour too.

"You ready to head back, baby?" Tom asked and it took you a second to realize that he was talking to you, voice soft as he gazed at you. "There's a bubblebath and a bed with our name on it."

Carla cleared her throat and Lucas shifted uncomfortably, having obviously heard the suggestive tone Tom had used. It was all pretend, but it had your body burning and your cheeks heating up dangerously either way. You'd always thought that Tom was a great actor, one of the best, but he was putting on the performance of his life right now and it made you almost cry in gratitude. He had really saved your ass from humiliation and you had no clue how to thank him.

Tom dropped his arm from your waist, opting to grab both your hands in his as you hoisted yourself off the chair. It was just your luck to catch your shoe on the chair of the barstool, tripping right into the arms of your knight in shining armour. He grabbed you before you fell on your face like a fool, wrapping both of his muscular arms around you protectively so you could steady yourself on your feet. He was smirking in delight when you peered up at him, not knowing whether to scowl or giggle like a teenaged girl. You definitely felt like doing the latter, just the sight of his handsome face had you feeling giddy.

"Three months and I still fall for him." You said before you could stop yourself, turning your gaze to avoid looking at Tom's face. Lucas scrunched his lips up like he'd eaten something sour before pulling himself together, shooting you a smile that even a stranger walking by could see through.

"It was nice to see you, Y/N. And it was nice meeting you, Tom." He nodded politely but you noticed the stiffness in his movement and voice. "And hey, we should definitely have dinner tomorrow night. Catch up."

You opened your mouth to protest, because surely Tom had better things to do than spend time with you, your ex-boyfriend and his new missus. But Tom was faster than you were, flattening his hands against your back in an intimate manner that had your heart leaping in your throat.

"Sure mate, we'd love to come." He nodded at Lucas, and you watched your ex-boyfriend nod before taking a step back. "Have a great night."

Lucas said his goodbyes, Carla muttering her words as they both turned to leave. You could see her walking a distance from him, hissing angry words at him as he walked with his shoulders slumped. It satisfied you to no end and you couldn't wait to tell Penny all about it. She would be absolutely livid that she'd missed it, but then again, if she was here to rescue you then Tom wouldn't have stepped in.

"What a dimwit." Tom's voice brought you back to the reality and you startled, realizing belatedly that his arms were still wrapped around you securely. You stepped back with an embarrassed smile, noting the way he easily let you go without any question. "You okay, love? Sorry, his smug face was pissing me off so I stepped in."

You couldn't help but laugh, wrapping your arms around yourself as you suddenly became aware of how exposed you were to him. You'd easily hidden behind the counter but now you stood in front of him, legs exposed and your dirty laundry had been aired out. He knew of your business now, there was no way that he'd even be remotely interested after the train wreck that had been taking place just minutes ago. Not that you had a chance before, but a girl could dream. And boy, were you going to dream of those eyes and his voice tonight.

"I can't thank you enough for that, you really saved me from eternal embarrassment." You huffed a laugh, scratching your neck before going back to hugging yourself.

"Always happy to help a gorgeous woman in need," He said with a smile before exhaling. "I better head off now, you okay with getting yourself home safe?"

You ignored the disappointment washing over you and nodded a little bit too enthusiastically. Why did you ever think that a man like that would ever be interested in you? How stupid.

"I only live a few minutes away from here," You pointed behind you lazily and he nodded. "Thank you again. And uh, hope you have a nice night."

Tom gave you a nod, sticking one hand in the pocket of his shorts before bending forward to place a kiss on your cheek. Your mouth fell open in a small O, trying not to look too shocked as he shot you a charming smile and started walking off.

"See you tomorrow night." He called out after himself and you were about to nod before your brain registered what he'd said.

"Tomorrow?" The words sounded foreign in your mouth and you raised your eyebrows.

"Yeah, for the dinner, love." He laughed with a wink before walking off. "At six!"

You watched him go in stunned silence, the feel of his lips still burning on your cheek.

**Author's Note:**

> Say hi to me on tumblr! - http://deartomhardy.tumblr.com


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